(JTA)
— The European Union approved an extra $124 million in emergency aid
to the Palestinians to supplement tax moneys frozen by Israel.

“It
is important that access to essential public services remains
uninterrupted and the right to social services is respected,”
Reuters on Friday quoted Catherine Ashton, the E.U. foreign policy
chief, as saying.

Israel
stopped payment this week on $105 million it owes the Palestinian
Authority on customs duties and other taxes because of the unity
agreement that Fatah signed with Hamas.

The
E.U. money would go to essential employees and to families in need.

Half
the Democratic caucus in the U.S. Senate urged President Obama to
suspend assistance to the Palestinian Authority.

Document
obtained by Haaretz reveals that between 1967 and 1994 many
Palestinians traveling abroad were stripped of residency status,
allegedly without warning. ….

Today,
a similar procedure is still in place for residents of East Jerusalem
who hold Israeli ID cards; they lose their right to return if they
have been abroad for seven years. …. http://tiny.cc/qv0j5